Shopsmith spotted

[stihlsawer]

Good morning. Yesterday evening, my wife and I attended a basketball game at a local high school to watch our niece play. We were walking towards the gym and passed by the vocational area. Outside was a Mark V 500; I think. I didn't walk up to it and unfortunately it was outside. I wish I would have had time to walk over to it. I might have to call them next week and see if they want it to go buy. Have you all noticed high schools with Shopsmiths? I know my high school does not offer wood working any more. I have heard that Nick is wanting Shopsmith Mark 7s in trade schools. I hope to see more of them at schools in the future.

[twistsol]

I have never seen a Shopsmith in a high school shop. In my hometown, both of old big iron Northfield table saws which were manufactured about 15 miles away, have been replaced with 5hp Industrial SawStops. They still have the 24" Northfield bandsaw that takes about 5 minutes to spin down when you power it off. It was there when I was in Jr. high decades ago and probably there decades before that. There is nothing in that space that would even be remotely considered consumer or hobbyist grade.

That school still has wood, metal, and auto shop classes and has a construction class where every year the students build a house and sell it. I go into the wood shop for a few weekends every January to help the robotics team build their game elements for the robotics competitions. They hired a new wood shop teacher last year and she has done an fabulous job refurbishing nearly everything in the old shop that the previous teacher let fall into disrepair. It is actually fun to work in the shop when you know all the tools are in tip top shape, sharp, and properly aligned. I haven't met her yet because the school foolishly assumes I'm responsible enough to supervise a group of high school students and they give us free reign of the place.

I haven't been in the wood shop in any of the schools in the district I now live in since the early 1980's and have no idea if they even still exist.

[stihlsawer]

Thanks Chris. I remember years ago our high school selling its big commercial wood working equipment. Much better to replace belts, bearings, lead screws, etc. than buying today's equipment. IMO

[jpdalton]

There’s a long tradition of Shopsmiths in schools. Hopefully, Nick & Co. will get them back in there again!
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[stihlsawer]

Thanks John for sharing. Good stuff and hope woodworking with Shopsmith enters back into our schools.

[JPG]

Wishful thinking I fear.

[shopsmithguru]

Wishful thinking I fear.

I second that. My wife is a high school teacher, and given the current situation, I don’t think most of the kids in her class would be interested in or even want to be near any machine—except for their iPhones, of course.

Any updates on Shopsmith the company? As far as I can tell, aside from the new website still being in development, not much has changed. If you check the parts section, it’s still missing a lot of items, and many are listed as "unavailable"!

[stihlsawer]

I have noticed the same for our older machines.

[JoeSark]

I think that it isn't wishful thinking to hope for the revival of industrial srts in high schools. One of the teachers in our middle school has comandeered a small area to offer an elective class to the students. The interest always outweighs the availability, and the students are of all types, from rednecks to gothic, academic looking to wild colored hair and mohawks. I have offered to supply him with hardwood from my sawmill, but he has enough others donating, and hasn't taken me up on it. The enthusiasm of the students is very encouraging.

[twistsol]

Change the class title from industrial arts or woodshop to anything with "Maker" in it and you're golden. I don't think it is wishful thinking to see this type of class revived regardless of what it's called. I do think that traditional woodworking machines will be minimized in favor of CNC, plasma cutters and 3d printing and likely combined with the art department.

The biggest problem with industrial arts classes is the perceived danger and the insurance costs/liability. My weekends in the shop with teenagers are the most stressful thing I do every year because regardless of whether you are working with the kids at the top of their class or the ones that are about to drop out or will barely graduate, teenagers will be teenagers. I now understand why most of my shop teachers seemed insane.